What BMW Gets Right (and Wrong) With the BMW M5 Sedan

Heavy is the Crown

The BMW M5 is legendary. Ever since its debut in 1984, it has been adored by enthusiasts all over the world. It used to be the case that the BMW M5 was more about performance than luxury. Sure, generations like the E39 in the early 2000s had creature comforts, good materials quality, and wood trim, but it was more about the driving experience than it was about being plush and technologically cutting edge. The BMW M5 is now as much about executive-car comfort and technology as it is supercar-level performance. It's almost hard to wrap your brain around how much it has advanced in practically every area.

The newest BMW M5 sedan pulls out all the stops, in good ways and bad. With a plug-in hybrid powertrain, all-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, 717-horsepower, and more technology than ever before, it pushes the M5 formula into a realm we really never saw coming. The result is an incredibly capable sedan-but one that also raises questions about whether performance, weight, and complexity have shifted too far from what made the M5 special in the first place. Here's what the 2026 BMW M5 Sedan gets right and wrong.

Right: Brutal Performance

The BMW M5 sedan lets you have your cake and eat it, too. It has always been a practical and comfortable 5-seater, a family car that owners can live with in the real world of commutes, errands, and even road trips. It can comfort, delight, thrill, and even frighten occupants depending on how you use it. It is the definition of a daily sports sedan, not a car you have to leave behind if you're taking the family with you. The latest M5 continues that tradition properly but ramps up one thing: astronomical levels of power. It's the most powerful M5 ever made and the second most-powerful BMW ever created (the XM Label SUV is the most powerful).

The BMW M5 sedan uses a high-performance plug-in hybrid powertrain that combines a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged V8 with an electric motor integrated into the transmission. Together, the system produces a formidable 717 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. Power is delivered through an eight-speed automatic transmission and BMW's M xDrive all-wheel-drive system, giving the sedan both explosive acceleration and all-weather capability.

Electric assistance helps deliver immediate torque, smoothing out power delivery and making acceleration feel instant from nearly any speed. 0-60 mph happens in a ridiculous 3.0 seconds. That's just half a second slower than the 1,001-horsepower Lamborghini Revuelto, a hypercar that costs almost five times more than the M5.

Right: Luxury and Room for All

Some performance sedans become so focused on outright capability that everyday comfort is a pipe dream, but not the M5. The cabin delivers a truly premium experience buyers expect at this six-figures plus price point. The Merino leather seats are marvelous, providing gobs of support, ample width, and good cushoning for hours in the saddle. Wood, aluminum, and carbon fiber interior trim choices are all attractive and high grade.

BMW's latest digital systems, consisting of a 14.9-inch central touchscreen paired with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster in the BMW Curved Display. Together, they create a truly futuristic look that look like they were pulled out of a spacecraft. Unlike many lower-slung performance cars, the M5 also remains practical. Rear passengers get 37 inches of legroom, rivaling the 2026 Mercedes-AMG E53's 35.8 inches. The combination of speed and practicality continues to separate the M5 from more specialized performance cars.

Wrong: It's Heavy-Really Heavy

There's no ignoring it. 5,390 pounds is a lot of weight. This massive heft is due to its plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain, which adds electric motors and a battery pack to the twin-turbo V8. It is 1,020 pounds heavier than the previous M5, which wasn't exactly light at 4,370 pounds. BMW's chassis tuning and suspension engineering do an impressive job disguising it most of the time, but it's impossible to forget how big this beast really is.

Previous M5 models often felt more eager and playful, encouraging drivers to explore the car's balance and responsiveness. The current version feels more planted and controlled, but also more serious. Some buyers will appreciate the greater stability and refinement, while others may miss the lighter, more connected character that helped define earlier generations. That said, no car this heavy should be this adept at handling. It's nightmarishly quick in a straight line, but it's chassis balance and four-wheel steering make mincemeat of corners. The numb steering and lack of connection with the road make it feel less engaging than previous M5s.

Wrong: It's Overly Complex

Another area where the new M5 may divide opinions is its obfuscating complexity. Modern BMW performance cars offer enormous amounts of customization, but the M5 sedan takes that into the stratosphere. Drivers can adjust steering weight, suspension firmness, regenerative braking, drivetrain response, transmission behavior, and store personalized driving profiles. You can't just dial a knob into Sport or Sport+ mode. You have to study the options, the combinations, and the configurations like a student. None of it is intuitive, and you have to figure out the best setup for different situations and desires.

The experience can sometimes feel overly technical and certainly overkill for most drivers. M5 owners may not ever take it to the track, which is where this level of customization can be an asset. Part of the appeal of older M cars was their simplicity-you got behind the wheel, selected a mode, and drove. The latest M5 occasionally feels like it asks drivers to manage settings before fully enjoying the experience, a place we didn't have enough time or attention span to get to. That complexity reflects today's performance vehicles, but more options do not always create a better connection between driver and machine.

Final Thoughts

BMW did not build this generation of the M5 to recreate the past. Instead, it created a performance sedan designed for modern expectations: extreme power, electrified efficiency, luxury, and daily usability. The M5 remains one of the quickest and most capable sedans available today, but while you have to appreciate what it delivers, you almost need a PhD to figure out its customization levels. It's also heavier than som SUVs. Frankly, it makes us miss the M5s of old, as amazed as we are by the current one.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 12:00 PM.